Tensions flared in Parliament between the ruling party and the opposition over the state budget. The opposition reacted angrily to the decision to present the draft budget at the University of National and World Economy (UNWE), rather than at the Council of Ministers or the National Assembly. They also criticised the rejection of their proposals to compensate for high fuel and wholesale electricity prices, as well as what they described as a lack of transparency in drawing up the state budget.
The opposition accused the government of showing disregard for state institutions by choosing UNWE as the venue for presenting next year's draft budget.
Boyko Borisov, GERB: “Well, after UNWE, perhaps they’ll take it to Buzludzha. Not that Parliament is anything other than a completely pointless institution at the moment. There is no budget, and there should have been one on the first of the month. We cannot comment on anything until we have seen it. Apparently, Parliament is the last place on their list, so we’ll see it eventually.”
Atidzhe Alieva-Veli, MRF: “This is an outright disregard for and disrespect towards the institution of the National Assembly, given the forthcoming presentation of the budget. In recent weeks, however, we have been hearing more and more lies, some of which have already been disproved by documents from the European Commission.”
Ivaylo Mirchev, Democratic Bulgaria (DB): “Tomorrow, we expect to see the budget that leads nowhere, and we are ready to dissect it piece by piece. We will give them another 24 hours to come forward before the Bulgarian public and tell citizens that they have lied to them and tried to get their hands on people's pensions. But we exposed this and brought it to light, and now they are trying to wriggle out of it. By the way, everything has been undergoing major revisions at the Ministry of Finance over the past 24 hours, and they are in a panic. What concerns us is that the Bulgarian government is openly lying to the Bulgarian people.”
Nikolay Denkov, We Continue the Change: “Since they realised that they could no longer blame Assen Vassilev, they decided that people in academic gowns could do the job for them by explaining how people would become poorer next year, how taxes would be increased and how things would become harder for businesses. Instead of taking political responsibility, they are shifting it onto the academic leadership of UNWE.”
Tsoncho Ganev, Vazrazhdane: “This is disrespectful towards Parliament. The budget should be presented there first. Ultimately, we are a parliamentary republic, and it is only right that everything should begin and end in Parliament. We are neither a presidential republic nor a monarchy, nor are we a dictatorship. Everything must be decided in Parliament, and this is where it should be discussed and debated.”
The governing coalition rejected the opposition's arguments.
Zdravko Markov, PB: “What better message could there be than presenting it at the cradle of education? We are certain that over the coming month we will face various attacks and attempts to mislead the public, but we are ready to refute every single one of them. With the 2027 budget, we believe we will achieve, first, stronger public finances and, second, increased social benefits for the most vulnerable groups in society. No one will touch the second pillar of the pension system.”
Once the draft budget has been presented, it must be discussed with trade unions and employers' organisations. Only then will it be submitted to the Parliamentary Budget Committee for its first reading, together with the draft budgets of the State Social Security system and the National Health Insurance Fund.
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